Professional Ethics, Vicarious Trauma and Self-Care for Advocates
Meredith Varsanyi
Training Program Coordinator
Stephanie Erdice
Chief of Programming
• Define boundaries and ethics
• Explore the reason and purpose for boundaries in advocacy work
• Apply the ethical compass to our advocacy work
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Learning Objectives
“Action indeed is the sole
medium of expression for
ethics.” ~ Jane Addams
“The first step in the
evolution of ethics is a sense
of solidarity with other
human beings.” ~ Albert Schweitzer
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Boundaries ensure that the focus of
the relationship is on the survivors
healing.
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Boundaries
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Release your attachment to the survivor's
choices.
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Pro Tip
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What do we create
boundaries
around?
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Poll Question
What do we create boundaries
around?
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• Personal Relationships• Money • Communication • Social Media • Intimate Relationships • Physical Interactions • Alcohol (drugs)• Confidentiality
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What are Ethics?
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Ethics - a set of moral principles: a theory or system
of moral values
What are Ethics?
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Ethics - a set of guidelines that help us make decisions
Professional ethics are based on standardized principles across a field/company/nonprofit.
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Sample Ethical Code: NASW➢ Social workers’ primary goal is to help people in need and to address social
problems.➢ Social workers challenge social injustice.➢ Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person➢ Social workers recognize the central importance of human relationships.➢ Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.➢ Social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and
enhance their professional expertise.
What are Ethics?Professional Ethics
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• Focus on the victim’s wishes
• Advocate for the victim
• May help victim with a variety of issues
• Honesty
• Must stay within the realm of their responsibilities(Do not practice law or counseling)
• Respect boundaries
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Advocate Ethics
Victim AdvocatesAdvocacy has its foundation in grassroots activism. A commitment to ethics help give it legitimacy.
• Safeguards the reputation of the work that you are doing
• Protects the public from exploitation and abuse
• Furthers the competent and responsible practice of your role
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Why are Ethics Important?
Ethical CompassDoes this action upset our balance of power?
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What is an
appropriate tip?
Poll Question
Learning Objectives
•Understand the terminology of vicarious trauma
•Compare & contrast vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout
•Identify warning signs of vicarious trauma and burnout
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Vicarious: Experiencing or taking on someone else’s experiences through empathy
Trauma: A deeply distressing or disturbing event
Vicarious Trauma: The emotional residue of exposure that those have from interacting with people as they are hearing stories of trauma and become witnesses to the pain fear and terror that trauma survivors have endured
Who is at risk?•Anyone who interacts with people experiencing
trauma and have some knowledge of the traumatic event
• Includes• Therapists/Counselors• Social Workers• Advocates• Educators• Healthcare Professionals
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• Law Enforcement• Legal services staff• Caretakers• Anybody with indirect
exposure to trauma
“The cost of caring”
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Signs you may be experiencing Vicarious Trauma…
• Physical and psychological symptoms often associated with trauma, also known as Secondary Traumatic Stress
• Emotional attachment to a survivor’s decisions
• Overidentifying with a survivor’s story
• Difficulty in maintaining professional boundaries
• Overly preoccupied with thoughts of a survivor outside of the workplace
Vicarious Trauma
• A study* of social workers who worked directly with clients experiencing trauma found that:
• 70.2% experienced one symptom in the last week
• 55% met the criteria for one symptom cluster
• 15.2% met the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD
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Social Workers
Compassion Fatigue• Empathic strain and general
exhaustion resulting from caring for people in distress
• Emotional detachment and numbness
• Social withdrawal
• Intrusive negative thoughts
• Secretive self medication22
Burnout
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.
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Burnout
Signs you may be experiencing burnout…
• Poor attitude towards co-workers, agency and clients
• Losing your “why”
• Continued exhaustion
• Decreased performance and productivity
Trauma informed workplace
• Every person we encounter has likely experienced direct or indirect exposure to trauma within their lifetime.
• Trauma informed practice should not end with how clients are served
• Professionals in the victim-services field can also benefit from a trauma informed practice within their place of work.
• Agencies should prioritize policies to help prevent and address vicarious trauma and burnout in the workplace.
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If your place of work is currently
not using trauma-informed practice
to address vicarious trauma and burnout…
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Advocate for it!
Learning Objectives
•Explain self-care.
•Analyze why we don’t practice self-care.
•Describe the consequences of poor self-care.
•Classify & evaluate self-care strategies.
•Create a personal self-care plan.
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What is Self-Care?
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• Intentional activities and practices meant to reduce stress and maintain physical, psychological, and emotional health.
Photo Credit : http://thebodyisnotanapology.com/
Self Care v. Self Soothing
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• Self Soothing - Self soothing techniques help you calm and relax when you are feeling overwhelmed both physically and emotionally. They help you to “regulate” so that you can feel like yourself again. They get us through the present moment.
Why Don’t You Practice Self-Care?
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Photo Credit : http://thebodyisnotanapology.com/
• Feel selfish.
•Have too many other people to take care of.
•Not enough money.
• Too busy!
Personal Life
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• Damage to relationships
• Loss of self-esteem
• Isolation
Health• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Weigh loss or weigh gain
• Sleep Disturbances
• Weak Immune System
Workplace• Poor morale
• Lack of motivation
• Lack of concentration or focus
• Absenteeism
• Lateness
What are some of your self-care and self soothing techniques?
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Poll Question
Self-Care Strategies
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The "Three R" Approach
http://www.wheaton.edu/~/media/Files/Centers-and-Institutes/ HDI/DSEC-RecognizingPreventing BurnoutinYourself.pdf
• Recognition: Watch for the warning signs.
• Reversal: Undo the damage by managing stress and seeking support.
• Resilience: Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health.
Self-Care Action Plan
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Self-care used in everyday life is maintenance self-care.
Self-care used in crisis situations is emergency self-care.
Strategy to avoid burnout: implement maintenance self-care and plan for emergency self-care.
1. Problem: Identify the problem - the thing that is largely contributing to your burnout or is manifesting as your burnout
2. Goal: Set a goal to slow or halt burnout
3. Strategy: Develop a strategy to meet the goal
4. Techniques: Establish specific techniques; what works, and what doesn’t.
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Self-Care during a Pandemic
• Be gentle with yourself, and with those around you• Set personal boundaries regarding masks and social
distancing and communicate them with others.• Limit social media and COVID-19 coverage intake• Set a routine to help build consistency • Reach out to support networks• Focus on controlling the things that you can• Create healthy habits and stick to them• Develop a self-care toolkit
Physical• Eat a balanced diet
• Find an exercise you enjoy
• Get enough sleep
• Get regular medical care
• Learn to recognize your body’s warning signs
• Take time for intimacy
• Pamper yourself
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https://pixabay.com/photos/game-remote-gamer-video-2294201/
Psychological• Find creative outlets.
• Participate in therapy.
• Practice mindfulness and positive thinking.
• Take time for yourself.40 Photo Credit :https://en.wikipedia.org
Emotional
• Spend time with friends, family, or pets.
• Find a hobby that makes you happy.
• Recognize your hard work.• Watch a funny movie.• Release your emotions: laugh,
cry, etc.
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Spiritual• Enjoy nature and natural beauty in life.• Find a spiritual community.• Meditate.• Practice self-reflection.• Volunteer for a cause.
42 Photo Credit :https://en.wikipedia.org
Personal• Create a budget.
• Develop a skill.
• Get organized.
• Make time for building relationships.
• Set short- and long-term goals43
Photo Credit : http://inhabitat.com
Professional
• Chat with a coworker.
• Do breathing exercises.
• Go for a walk.
• Plan for professional development.
• Set reachable goals.
• Stretch at your desk.
• Take sick days and vacation days.
• Take time for lunch!
44 Photo Credit : http://www.katz.pitt.edu/facultyblog/?p=402
Caution!• Excessive caffeine intake
• Excessive intake of alcohol
• Overindulgence in unhealthy foods
• Use of illegal drugs
• Excuses for misbehavior 45
Your Personal Self-Care Wheel
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•What are you already doing?
•What could you do in the next 7 days to improve?
Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault & theSexual Assault Legal Institute
MCASA
(301) 328-7023
SALI
(301) 565-2277
Website
mcasa.org
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Meredith Varsanyi Stephanie [email protected] [email protected]